China from an Australian Manufacturers Point of View

China from an Australian Manufacturers Point of View

The stainless steel heelguard drainage industry and ‘China’ – an Australian manufacturers point of view.

Paige Stainless, a family business owned and operated from Caboolture, Queensland has manufactured stainless steel heelguard grating to the civil, bathroom and architectural market for some 21 years. We have brought to the industry a product that has changed the plumbing / drainage market to what we saw at present, close bar grating by way of wedge wire HEELGUARD. the product is now recognised by leading designers and architects nationally and overseas as an aesthetic and functional way of draining surface water.

As a company we have watched the market evolve, firstly by way of competition, flattering, to say the least, that others followed and wanted to be part of the evolution of the heelguard product. Paige Stainless, still, is the only Australian company to wholly focus on supply to ever growing demand for this unique product, we do nothing else, our energy is 100% dedicated to the industry we started.

This puts Paige Stainless in an ideal position to pass comment on the ever increasing importation of inferior wedge wire product into the country, namely Chinese wedge wire.

As we know China, given the opportunity, will attempt to copy any given product, with wedge wire firmly in their sights now, as a result of Australian enquiry for same.

The industry that has grown thru the Australian corridor is now under scrutiny, Paige Stainless has recognised this and moved to combat “cheaper product” by way of manufacturing products in line with offshore quality while still maintaining the handle of still being 100% Australian made. Indeed, we welcome price comparison through importers.

Material selection being important and sometimes the the focal point of stainless steel procurement, be it AISI grade 304 or AISI grade 316 falls squarely in line with application. we have found that imports are some times grade 301, a recognised grade perhaps for the mining industry, but not the architectural industry. Nearly all of Chinese manufactured wedge wire supplies their mining industry, the off shoot of Australian enquiry is simply tagged onto an existing Chinese market not suited to the Australian architectural market. This results in the degradation of existing Australian suppliers to the industry. It is becoming more and more apparent that not only cheaper dollar value products but cheaper made wedge wire products are bastardising a once ‘pristine’ market.

Industry awareness is now paramount to the survival of wedge wire heelguard architectural grating.